Only a reverse of the
original image data can be displayed on the opposing side with conventional double-sided LCDs. With Samsung's
double-gate, TFT design, the LCD features two gates which operate each pixel
instead of just one. This is what allows Samsung to produce two independent
images. Amorphous Silicon Gate (ASG) technology also allows Samsung to manage
the increase in TFT gates without a subsequent increase in driver ICs.

One backlight is shared between the two LCDs. The front LCD
is transmissive and the opposing screen is reflective (which allows it to
capture some of the light from the main screen). In its current form, Samsung's
double-sided LCD is 2.6mm thick with a QVGA resolution. Brightness levels
register at 250 nits for the front panel and 100 nits for the back panel.

"Our new double-sided mobile display underscores
Samsung's commitment to equip our customers with advanced display technology
that accelerates the trend toward slimmer mobile products. We anticipate high
demand when we commence mass production in the first half of 2007," said
Samsung Executive Vice President Yun Jin-hyuk.

Comments

Threshold

Username

Password

remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

I could think of cell phones which could display some intresting stuff on top of the lid, the LCD beeing the lid, while then using the backfacing screen as a cell phone display, or even, playing battleship with two displays, but isn't this just a bit more costly and power hungry than needed for celluar phones?

They could easily use this for a home docking station. Plop the laptop in a monitor-like stand at home and flick a switch and the laptop would succesfully replace a desktop computer with included bluetooth kb/ms.

Think of the laptop/tablet combos. Right now, you have to flip the monitor up, spin it, then fold it down backwards. Imagine having the LCD built into the back of your laptop panel where you just pop the cover off and you're good to go. Heck, you could even treat it as a second output. Even as a toy for say, business meetings, it could become whatever would be on the 2nd monitor.

Sure it has limited usefulnes. Cell phones are a good example though: already they have to cram two screens into flip phones for the top facing screen, now you could do it with just one, which will either thin them considerably, or give them more space to use for something else. :)

I can already see what people could do with this technology. Professors and school teachers and/or students with presentations could be teaching class, with the side pointing to the class showing lecture notes and examples. On the other side, the instructor would be playing F.E.A.R., which results in random interjections of swearing in between lecture points. Score one for counter-productivity.

Seriously, I think there will be some interesting uses of this technology. As a gamer, I can come up with a few more. Multi-player without splitting the screen is nice.

A lot of flip phones already have two LCDs, at the cost of having a bulge to accommodate the second screen, double backlights, double the circuitry, etc. This is a way to get the same result using less power, since they'll share the backlight and a lot of the circuitry.

i would think it would be a bit slim for a mobile screen? becuase it is so thin. You couldnt really make it fatter because it shares the same light source, so you'd either have ti case it in somethingand have a very think piece of plastic infront of one side, or put it in the middle and have half as thick plastic on either side. maybe? :S.

Oh another monitor idea is to have a LCD checkout monitor with touchscreen on one side for the clerk to select the items the person purchased and the other side of the screen to show the customer the price and all the items. Right now this is either done with two screen or one screen that swivels.

Fashion! Can you imagine having a Laptop that can have your favorite design light up on the front and change very day? About a cool screen saver? How about doing your work as a normal laptop and on the other side "DO NOT Disturb"?

School
How about a test. You can type in "YES" and a big "YE" will display on the fount for the teacher to see.

Another application would be to use it in multi-projector interfacing, were one would use several projectors to display a single image onto one, abnormally large screen (or a 3 dimensional surface area, like the typical 6 inner sides of a room) and not loose display resolution. I personally know a private company near my town that is currently working on a program solution to make that process faster and easier (and having more LCD screens within each projector could cut costs for them and their product)…

"Game reviewers fought each other to write the most glowing coverage possible for the powerhouse Sony, MS systems. Reviewers flipped coins to see who would review the Nintendo Wii. The losers got stuck with the job." -- Andy Marken